The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936, 1887-02-24
A MucH-usED
4 Few Observations on the First Per-
son singular-Modesty Not q
Characteristic OF Some Peo-
MA lVa Meat

rev O~DseTFatiOns OH the Ftrst ber
son singular-Modesty Not q
Characteristic of some Peo-
pie We Meet.
A recent number of The London
Queen contains an article on 1.-The
first Person Singular" The writer u.s.
erts. and without doubt the assertion
s well grounded, that the letter Il" is
he boundary of the whole world of sem
alton and the mirror wherein are re-
lected all outside phenomena. We
i've, and think. and understand by its
cal cation. and through its power of
absorption we get a glimpse of the '.I'
# others. 1t is the Alpha and Omega
Il all speculation-the soul beacon of
light in the midst of I'M. versal darkness.
n it all nature is focused, and all
life represented. What the '.I''
loes not know has no existence for
man," what the eye does not see
The heart does not crave" and ''what
he Il does not know the mind cannot
I1ccept," are truisms. That which
Iome organisms feel and believe are
~lon-existent for others. A person who
las always been blind can have no per-
,eption of color. adeaf person no idea of
harmony. This is the metaphysical as
,ect of Il" The II" of everyday
life is in some persons the most obiec-
lonable sign-post ever set up in the
highway of life. 1t meets one at every
urn and seems to obstruct the way to
very other domain. What l think and
What do-where l have been and what
have seen, is the string on which is
Ounded the everlast NC monochord of
lgotism; and it never occurs to these
e%lf-conta ned harpists that others may
weary of the sameness of their tune.
Nor do they think that anyone has
;nown aught of which they them
elves have been ignorant until now.
They discover things which have been
'ublic property for centuries. ven to
acts of Greek and Roman history. If
hey 90 over to Paris for the first time
hey discover Paris, and give their
leighbors who have lived there for
m years the benefit of their expert
noes in the cafes. and news of the
conduct of the crowds in the streets,
nd the queue made at the doors of the
heaters. 1t they take up new study
hey instruct the expert-if they have
,dopted a new fad they convert the
lie rophant-or it may be set forth as
ncontrovertible the superficial reasons
Thy such and such Il fact should be &C
epted to n who has gone down to
he rootS and rejected after profound
Examination. These intellectual go
lists never discriminate. Their 81"
dominates their judgement and what
hey hear and learn, if it strikes their
ancy they hold fast to, sure that great
expansive ''I' cannot be deceived, Inc
hat they have no need of caution. The
anks of the superstitious are recruited
rom those of the intellectual cyclists,
nd the people who accept as gospel
very folly afloat are those who are
o sure of themselves that they take no
precautions against blunder.ng. To
re sure. among the swaliowers of
uacking-ducks are the absolutely sim
lie and non-egotistical. But their fault
5 folly, not presumption-want of
roper self-assertion-not too much ar
Ogance.
The writer continues: People who
i've in their own '.T' are now prone to
onsider themselves sighted. now Gag
T to accept as supreme honor the COM
honest courtisies and the smallest
ivilities. Everything unusual they
axe as something done in their honor;
md things which have no kind of
eference to themselves thev accept as
heir assigned homage. This had an
Illustration of a sort when Cato the
'ounger took the demonstrations of re-
pect and greetings made by the
A%ntiochianS az witnesses borne
o his W deserving. 1t was
iothing of the kind. The-what
We should now call-deputation was
Waiting for Demetrius. Pompey's freed
nan; and Cato went for nothing in
heir eyes. We say this was an illus
ration of a sort; for Cato the younger
vas by no means an egotist, and the
mistake was not unnatural. And, talk |
ng of ancient matters, it was Plut-
rch's father who first gave that most
Useful advice against eg0tism in speech
bidding his famous son always say
we went"-''we saw"-"we did,
wen when his colleague should chance
o be absent; and never to push forward
hat obtrusive 81" which some peo-
,le seem to think the note of admiration !
If the universe.
':T' has also become a universal form
IT locution. Young girls who travel
re prone to disdain the modesty of the
collective pronoun .'we," and from
heir conversation it might be CLEANED
hat they spend their lives in going
bout the world alone and unattended. !
It is not a nice form of speech, but it
Belongs to the intense indlvidualism of
he times. Self-assertion is the fashion, |
,ut it will pass away if we will wait in
patience. This self-sustained worship
If the "T' has received many q hard
mock from poet and philosopher; yet
t still survives: 'Sic volo, sic jubeo"
itands as a kind of monumental warn
ng in the way of arrogant speech, and
Il I'm Sir Oracle, and when L open my
Ups let no dog bark" is a phrase which
We all know by heart. and of which
many of US have had occasion to make